"Simple Living" - Chapters 23 and 24

[Jundo]

Just jump in if joining, no "catch up" ... just today is today ...

I will include chapter headings, as we discovered some differences between the US and UK editions regarding chapter order.

Chapter 23 - Join Your Hands Together - Gassho (Bow with Pressed Palms) quite a few times this week, to things and moments to which you might not normally Gassho ... to a passing car, a passing stranger on the street, a weed in the sidewalk, the coffee maker, the toilet brush, an ant, a rusty tin can on the sidewalk, just to the air we breathe. No need to plan your bowing, let it just come spur of the moment, but offer a sincere bow of gratitude and connection.

Chapter 24 - Make Time To Be Alone - Find some nature in which to just sit for some minutes, being secluded, putting the world down with all its concerns. Don't sit Zazen, but just appreciate the quiet of nature around you. If in a crowded and noisy city, any bench in a park will do, or if not that, even sitting next to a potted houseplant, or a single fallen leaf or weed in the sidewalk will do, and just let the quiet and seclusion happen in your heart. The mountains and rivers are inside you as much as out.

Gassho, J

STLah

[BevBee]

What a wonderful application of things we can do that are simple in our ordinary, daily life. Just simple, just ordinary, but yet very rich and meaningful. I just found this thread, and it is a precious jewel. gassho.

[Nanrin]

For #24 I thought it'd be nice to go sit near a small stream under some large stands of bamboo. Shortly after walking into the bamboo forest I was swarmed by giant gnats. They were particularly fond of my eyes and inside of my ears; I was not so fond of them in either place. The forest was busier than the market! Needless to say, I didn't sit down for very long. However, I immensely enjoyed the forest on the drive in and out on my motorcycle, a big success for this exercise.

I have really enjoyed all of these exercises, although I've not felt a need to comment much. Hope everyone else is enjoying them also.

Gassho,

Nanrin

Sat today

[Meitou]

I find that I'm bowing deeply in my heart more and more these days, perhaps it's to do with getting older but I feel there's so much to bow down to - the fact that I wake up in the morning for starters!
Some of you know that I have a tiny, tiny garden which I spend a lot of time in. I find peace just sitting there and breathing, even though I'm surrounded by buildings and wedged between two construction sites.
Even just the act of opening the door early in the morning and breathing that dawn air - wonderful practice.
Gassho
Meitou
Satwithyoualltoday lah

[Gukan]

This has already been an enlightening exercise in finding something to bow to. Obviously in embracing all life's conditions we are not looking to bow only to the "good" but I find it easy to fall into the trap of only accepting/acknowledging things I can put a positive spin on. This week I have had a slightly anxiety-inducing situation with some new neighbours and bowing to the tension and the not-knowing-how-it-would-work-out was quite something. It allowed me to untangle myself from the thought-mess even if only for a few moments.

I have also enjoyed gassho-ing the cats, one of whom looks terrified, the other of whom looks at me like I'm an idiot

Gassho,
Libby
ST

[Tokan]

Hi all

Chapter 23 - Gassho (Bow with Pressed Palms) quite a few times this week - I often pause and think about the strange things around me, a cell phone, a TV, a traffic light, that thing in the kitchen that you bought ten years ago and can't recall why or how it works. The universe is a vast and strange place and includes all that junk from the TV shopping channels as much as all the 'useful' stuff we own. However, I have not gassho'd to these things physically, so this week I will and see what happens - in combining the mental and physical actions of acknowledgement and gratitude for any one of the 'myriad' things.

Chapter 24 - Find some nature in which to just sit for some minutes - Now I do this when I can, I think it is incredibly healthy in a number of ways, and I have a beautiful park to go sit in close to work. But if may add something in here that spontaneously arose the last time I went to the park (last week). I started offering metta to those walking or running past. It started 'stiffly' I could say with the standard may you be... sentences. When I looked more closely at the individual people, I began to offer them metta based on something observable. For example, a mother with a child I offered the metta of "may you never have to sit by your child's side while they are desperately sick", and to an older slower lady, "may you find peace and contentment in your final years", to a young gansta-type "may you find a path to an awakened existence if you haven't already". Again I apologise for introducing a practice here, but I do so as it naturally arose in me because of just sitting in nature.

Gassho

Tokan

Sattoday

[Gukan]

When I looked more closely at the individual people, I began to offer them metta based on something observable. For example, a mother with a child I offered the metta of "may you never have to sit by your child's side while they are desperately sick", and to an older slower lady, "may you find peace and contentment in your final years", to a young gansta-type "may you find a path to an awakened existence if you haven't already".

[Myoku]

...sincere bow of gratitude and connection

like this one, thank you everyone
Gassho
Myoku
sat

[krissydear]

Chapter 23 - Gassho - I spent time at a McDonald's this week and took time to gassho at my food and at the person who delivered my food, doing this while in a busy place was very nice and the person who received the gassho gave me a lovely smile afterward.

Chapter 24 - Nature - At least once a week, my husband and I take a drive down Pacific Coast Highway. This week, we rode in silence for a little while with the windows down, so I could breathe in the salty air and feel how hot it was. We don't normally roll down the windows, because we often listen to a podcast or audiobook, so it was nice to fully experience the scenery this time.


Gassho
krissy
ST

[Nengei]

Ch23: The approach of Ango has kept me mindful of my relationship to the universe around me this week, and this is a lovely way to acknowledge that.

Ch24: My dissertation work, which I have recently had to walk away from because of funding shortages, has been focused on the relationship between spending time in nature and health outcomes. While I will miss being engaged in expanding knowledge of this phenomenon, I nevertheless will continue to enjoy its benefits.

Gassho,
然芸 Nengei
Sat today. LAH.

You deserve to be happy.
You deserve to be loved.

[Tairin]

I find that I'm bowing deeply in my heart more and more these days,

What a nice way to express it! And yes I finding the same. I frequently gassho either explicitly or “deeply in my heart “ more and more. Something good happens! Gassho and thank you for the teaching. Something less desirable? Gassho and thank you for the teaching. Something mundane like brushing my teeth? Gassho and thank you for this experience and opportunity.

There is a beautiful park by the river just a few blocks from my house. My wife and I often go for a walk down through there and stop for a while to sit quietly on the bench to enjoy the green space and the peace. We’ll be heading down there this weekend explicitly for #24.

Nanrin, your story reminds me of a time a few years ago that I thought it would be nice to sit (as in Shikantaza) under a tree in the park for a while. I hadn’t been there for more than about 5 minutes before I got pooped on by a bird sitting in the tree.


Tairin
Sat today and lah

[Tai Do]

I bowed to many things these last days. The experience is different each time. I felt embarrassment gasshoing in public. Felt silly doing gassho in the bathroom. Felt respectful doing gassho to my Buddha statue and to the food I was about to eat. Felt love doing gassho to my wife, dog and cats. Felt calmness gasshoing for no reason at all. This perhaps will be one of the practices that will stick with me like the morning air breathing and the sleepers well arranged together.

This morning I sat in my own garden that is unattended for months (in part for negligence, in part so that I can see the native herbs growing there wildly). Did not sit zazen, just looked at the wild plants that are growing there and the little bugs. I counted 4 or 5 different species of plants, besides the desert flower and the sweet potato that I had planted. I saw some bugs and flies. And there was a little sparrow in the wall, besides my dog sitting next to me.

Gassho,
Mateus
Sat today/LAH